No, the names thing has always been exaggerated.

I occasionally call my kids by each others' names. My parents would call me by my brothers' names. This is a running joke in large families. I occasionally in large meetings swap the names of two products we're talking about and have to be corrected. It's just a very low-grade "verbal dyslexia" that means nothing except that the brain isn't a perfectly-wired machine.

When you confuse the name of the leader of one country with the leader of the country they're at war against, that's...a bit more than that.

Occam’s razor— which is more likely:

* Swapping a name as he’s known to do, with the name of the person who is contextually-adjacent and the other main character?

* Thinking the man he just finished discussing our continual support against Russian expansion, was actually Vladimir Putin himself?

I don’t beleive he’s actually confusing them, but it’s not a good look for a guy who’s supposed to be a leader in uncertain times. One should never be question if the president meant what they just said.

Oh it’s a terrible look, no argument there!

I’m only saying that life-long wors-swapping is not dementia, as so many say.